Spalletti: We Are Not In Crisis

Luciano Spalletti wants to see “an immediate reaction” from Inter, but insists they aren’t enduring a crisis as they did last winter.

The Nerazzurri are in slump at the moment, winning just one of their last seven games in all competitions.

“It’s essential that we see an immediate reaction,” Spalletti said in his Press conference ahead of the Udinese game.

“I must say that I think these lads deserve the support of the fans. They showed their displeasure about what happened, and the desire to immediately re-start in a match like tomorrow’s.

“They know very well that this is the first step, it won’t take you to your destination but it’ll move you from where you are.”

The current run of bad for brings back memories of last winter when Inter had just one win in 10 games. The question was asked of Spalletti whether that streak is being repeated?

“I think it’s different. You just look at the result, I have to look at the incidents which determined the outcome and to me it seems very different.

“The players are working in the right way, we lost a game and it hurts, it created difficulties in the reaction of our fans.

“That said, we went out of the competition on goal difference [away goals] in the last 10 minutes.

“In my opinion the team did very well, beyond a bit of a nervous reaction after going 1-0 down. We did very well and deserved to win, we created a lot of chances.

“Clearly a result like this makes a big difference, but when the draw was made no-one gave us a chance of getting through and instead we were 10 minutes away.

“We should have done more, but I don’t think it’s right to knock down what this team has done over the past year-and-a-half.

“It seems to me, given the way our result was treated, that there’s a desire to go and demolish what we’ve created, but it remains.

“You need to look at where we started. Right now we’re 14 points behind Juventus, we started 29 points behind in seventh place.

“We don’t have to throw away anything we’ve done so far, we’ve built something and we need to continue the journey, that’s what we’re working on now.

“I don’t see games we’ve lost, or in which we didn’t win, as meaning we have to completely upend what we’ve done.

“After that it’s clear that I should be the one in the crosshairs, not the players, because the players are doing what they need to do and they’ve shown they want to work in the right direction.

“We’ll be sure to examine what happened, and keep working toward our objectives.

“As for the criticism, it seems to me that some of it has been brutal but if criticism is done in the right way it can also be constructive.

“It’s clear you can’t take much from criticism if it’s based on someone being a fan of another team and analysing the match.

“We know where correct critique comes from and we can use it, if it’s delivered in a civilised manner.

“I watch how the team plays, what they do during matches, how they lost against Tottenham and Juventus and how they drew with PSV.

“I’ve seen the correct behaviour from my squad, and I also think that we’ve closed the gaps in terms of the results or scores, or the differences there were last year compared to other teams.

“The league is more balanced now, everyone is having a few more problems, Juventus aside.

“What’s important inside the dressing room is to say things in the right way, because optimism or pessimism derive from how you make things appear, and we know how to present them in the dressing room because everyone in there can see what we’ve done.

“Every day there are analyses and debates. We’ve had a result which disturbs us, but we’ve worked in the right way and you can be assured there are plenty of Interisti in that Inter dressing room.